


Breakfast for the Boys

by distant_rose



Series: Little Pirates [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Future Fic, Swan-Jones Family, background Captain Swan, captain cobra bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 06:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distant_rose/pseuds/distant_rose
Summary: Killian meets Henry for breakfast at Granny's sans Emma despite sleep deprivation brought on by his newly-teething son. He quickly discovers he isn't the only fan of bacon and sleep-deprivation does not excuse oneself of being teased by their stepson.





	Breakfast for the Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Once again I would like to thank welpthisishappening for encouraging me to write this and dealing with my nuisance self for the past two days as I banged this out and constantly asked for her opinion. All mistakes are mine because I am trash. No Beth or Wes in this fic since Harrison is only six-months old. This actually based on a true story as well - my own six-month-old antics.
> 
> Questions & comments? You're welcome to chat with me on tumblr @ distant-rose.tumblr.com. Cheers!

 

When Killian had found out Emma was pregnant, he had been stunned and more than a little fearful. However, after the initial shock had worn off, he became excited; over the moon in fact. Never in his nearly two centuries of life did he ever really expect to be someone’s father. ( _There had been a brief glimmer of hope with Baelfire all those years ago but that dream had died almost as soon as it has been begun to form in his head. And sure, he had Henry, whom he adored and loved fiercely, but Killian would never dare to try and replace Baelfire. It would have been a disservice to the man who desired that title so fiercely. No, Killian was never going to be Henry’s father, but he was definitely going to try hardest to be the best stepfather he could be._ )

Now that the babe had been born and had been dictating their lives for the past months, Killian was just tired. Constantly. After spending practically centuries captaining the Jolly with a limited sleep schedule, Killian had thought he had at least been prepared for this aspect of fatherhood. He hadn’t. Reality had sunk in quickly and ruthlessly when his son had arrived home. The days seemed to bleed into each other painfully with no end in sight for midnight, two o’clock, four o’clock and six o’clock cries for feedings, cuddles and diaper changes. The worst thing was that it hadn’t petered out over the months like all the parent books promised, much to his dismay. No, instead of sleeping more, his son was sleeping less now that his teeth had decided to come in early. Their sleep schedule was even more messed up now especially since new teeth were not as easy to placate as a nightly need to feed. Though Killian loved his son fiercely, the sleep deprivation was jarring and he felt more like a zombie than he did when he was actually dead. 

After six months of no sleep, Killian was nearing the need of his rope. He had gotten to the point where he had started dozing in the most random of places and at sporadic points during the day. All of this was what led to Henry finding him in tilted over in their booth at Granny’s, his eyes shut and his head bowed in preparation of an inevitable nosedive into a large mug of coffee despite the babbling baby in Killian’s lap, tugging rather insistently on his hair.

“Hook, are you okay?” Henry asked, giving his stepfather a concerned once over. He leaned forward to give him a gentle nudge on the shoulder, aborting an ill-fated descent into the hot beverage waiting on the table below.

Killian jolted, eyes blinking rapidly in a valiant effort to bat away the hold of sleep. He sighed for a moment, bringing his only hand up to his face to worry his brow glancing at his son and gently unfurling the boy’s little fingers from his abused locks. 

“Just a bit tired, lad,” Killian responded with a barely-there grin. “Your brother hasn’t been the kindest to us. He’s been quite cranky about his teeth coming in and has been very fervent in letting us know.”

“What? Little Han Solo here is giving you trouble?” Henry replied with a wide grin, gesturing to the baby cuddled against Killian’s chest with his hand before leaning forward to gently tousle thick thatch of hair on the boy’s head. Killian absently noted that his son was in dire need of a haircut. ( _They could get around to that later after they cleaned the changing cot, washed the play toys and fixed the high chair. God, parenthood was more work than either of them had guessed._ ) 

“Harrison, Henry. His name is Harrison. Use it. You chose it after all,” Killian responded with a roll of his eyes. He took a swing from his coffee mug, grimacing slightly as he burned his tongue.

“Yeah, only because you said Han was a stupid name,” Henry responded with his own eye roll. It never failed to startle Killian how much of Emma he could see in Henry’s actions as he got older.

“I didn’t say it was a stupid name, Henry. I said that Han wasn’t a real name because it isn’t a real name,” Killian corrected, watching as Henry attempted to fix his little brother’s hair from the wreckage. There was no point. Even without being tousled, Harrison’s hair was a riot that couldn’t be tamed no matter hard Killian and Emma tried. Though he had to admit that Henry was definitely making more process than either him or Emma had made in weeks. He was a great older brother and Killian was proud of him.

“Han is totally a real name, and I’m pretty sure that I could find a ton of famous people named Han on Wikipedia just to prove it to you,” Henry replied, not even looking at Killian; still studying his handiwork with Harrison’s hair. 

Killian pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Normally he enjoyed this kind of banter with his stepson, however it was generally when Killian had the pleasure of more than two hours of sleep. Killian wished that Henry could cut the smart-ass teenager routine and just order his breakfast so they could leave and put Harrison ( _and himself_ ) down for a nap.

“I’m sure you could,” Killian responded after a few moments. “But I fail to see why since it’s rather moot at this point. The birth certificate says Harrison. We’re not changing it." 

“Just think it would be a good nickname for our little space pirate since you know, the entire reason I named him that was because of Han Solo in the first place,” Henry replied with a smirk, bopping Harrison on the nose. 

The baby giggled happily in response, trying to reach out and grasp Henry’s hand. Upon missing his older brother, Harrison made a disgruntled noise that Killian now knew heralded the beginnings of a tantrum and immediately reached into the baby bag next to him in haste. He pulled out the wooden Stand-Up Man toy Geppetto had gifted them what seemed like eons again ago at Emma’s baby shower. It was currently Harrison’s favorite toy and often kept the little lad entertained for hours. Killian often fought the urge to hug the older man every time he saw him. 

“Look, Harrison, it’s Stand-Up Man!” Killian exclaimed with a mock gasp of excitement as he attached the toy to the table and hastily pulled the string to erect the toy into its stance in hopes of gaining the baby’s attention. It worked. Harrison’s displeasure with Henry dissipated in favor of looking at his favorite toy with newly born interest. Harrison grabbed the string from his father’s hand almost violently before pulling on it in rapid succession, assembling and dissembling the wooden toy so fast that it looked like it was flailing its limbs in a sign for mercy. Killian mentally patted himself on the back for his burgeoning dad skills before returning his attention to Henry. 

“How about we table the nickname discussion for when the little lad has a say in it? Say like it, ten? Also, don’t antagonize your brother. At least wait until Leroy gets here so that our eardrums don’t bleed in vain?”

“Fine,” Henry replied in a light tone that suggested he wasn’t taking Killian seriously at all. “Where’s Mom by the way?”

“Your mother is back at the house sleeping for the first time in months,” Killian responded with an almost envious sigh.

Emma had been on the verge of a mental breakdown earlier this morning when Harrison had been in hysterics over his teeth. It didn’t necessarily help that she had still been breastfeeding him and his barely-there teeth were starting to make the experience incredibly painful for her. They had come to the decision to move from breast to bottle…for the third time. ( _Harrison had been adamantly against being bottle fed since the beginning, much to his Swan’s dismay. “I wish he would just leave my boobs alone.” “Unfortunately, he’s a breast man much like his father.” “Ha, ha, ha. Now for that comment, you have diaper duty for the next change.”_ ) The emotions of the early morning had gotten to her and by the time it had come to meet Henry at Granny’s, she could be barely get out of bed due to her exhaustion. It was then Killian realized that his Swan was in no shape or form to leave the house, and had convinced her to stay behind and get some rest while he met Henry for breakfast. Killian could still feel his own exhaustion weighing down in his bones like lead, but Emma needed rest more than he did; at least that was the mantra he kept telling himself.

“She really needs to sleep, Henry. You can stop by the house later if you want. Hope we’re enough company for you.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Henry responded with a casual shrug that didn’t match the slight dismay underlying his tone. “I get it. Have gotten it.”

“Good.” Killian tentatively brought his coffee cup back to his lips, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t burn his tongue again. However instead of a burn, he was greeted with the bitter black being a shade under lukewarm. He smacked his lips in distaste as he studied his stepson, who was doing his best to hide his disappointment. He could kill for a decent cup of coffee at this moment. 

“Look, Henry, I’m sorry she isn’t here and it’s just me and the baby. She loves you more than anything and we’re so proud of how you’ve been handling Harrison so far. You’ve showed maturity beyond your years.”

The tips of Henry’s ears went bright red and Henry immediately looked away from him, focusing on the dead winter scenery outside of Granny’s as if his life depended on it. Though Killian could no longer view his entire face, he could still see spots of color on Henry’s cheekbones and an uncomfortable stiffness in his shoulders.

“It’s nothing, Hook. I get it. It’s not a problem. There’s no problem.”

“I know you get it, but it’s always good to be reminded that despite all the new stuff and Harrison, that we still love you, are proud of you and worry about you. And that while we’ve been preoccupied with the baby, we still think about you and care about you and acknowledge how supportive and helpful you’ve been, lad.”

The color on Henry’s cheeks darkened under Killian’s words and he ducked his head a bit into his shoulder in a futile attempt to hide.

“Jeez, Hook. Maybe you’re the one who should have stayed behind if having no sleep means you spilling your guts like this.”

 Killian opened his mouth to respond, but never got a chance to verbalize anything as one of the waitresses arrived with his order and thus cutting off the potentially emotional conversation he was having with Henry.

“Here’s your pancakes and extra bacon, Captain,” the blonde waitress, whose name Killian couldn’t remember for the life of him ( _the only thing his sleep-deprived brain could come up with was Not-Ruby_ ), announced as she dropped the plate in front of him. “And some applesauce for little guy. Can I get you anything else?”

“You ordered without me?” Henry asked in mild annoyance. 

“Sorry, lad, I wasn’t thinking when I sat down,” Killian replied apologetically before returning his attention to Not-Ruby. “Yes, I’ll have another coffee. Give the lad a hot chocolate with cinnamon and whatever he wants to eat post-haste if you could, lass.”

“The waffle special with scrambled eggs and bacon too, thanks,” Henry shot off his order quickly, still looking at Killian with some irritation. Killian responded with a semi-sheepish smile and tugged on his ear in a self-conscious manner. He genuinely hadn’t meant to upset him.

Not-Ruby scribbled down the order and turned away to other customers, however not before making a cooing noise and giving Harrison a pat on the head. Killian sighed. It had become one of his pet peeves both when Harrison was in and out of utero when random people felt the need to touch his son. He didn’t quite understand where people got off thinking it was okay to touch the boy without permission. ( _It had taken some coaxing from Emma to not to attack people who would randomly come up to touch the swollen belly that had housed their son._ )

“I can’t believe you ordered without me,” Henry repeated, tearing Killian away from his irritated musings.

 “Bad form, I know, but an honest mistake,” Killian said tiredly, rubbing his eyes for a moment before pushing his plate towards Henry. “Look, have a nibble on mine while I try to feed your brother.”

Henry looked bewildered for a moment, looking between Killian and the plate pushed between them on the table.  

“Hook, you don’t have to do that.”

“Aye, I know I don’t. However, it’s not like I’m going to be eating right away. I’m going to have to get Harrison to eat first or he never will. Your brother is almost as stubborn as your mother,” Killian replied somewhat absently as he reached for the small dish of apple sauce and spooned it tentatively to make sure there was no big chunks that the baby could choke on.

“Yeah, but I can wait. It’s really not that big of a deal. I was just busting your chops,” Henry replied, lifting his hands up in mock surrender. 

“Henry. Eat the damn pancakes. I can wait. It’s fine.”

Henry sighed like the teenager he was before taking the small syrup container and drizzled it lightly on top of the first pancake. He then picked it up with his bare-hand and folding it like he would with a pizza slice. Killian gave him a slightly disgusted look, but kept the reprimand on proper eating habits to himself. Sometimes he had to pick his battles.

He instead turned his attention to Harrison who was still taking incredible joy in torturing Stand-Up Man. Sometimes he worried about what that meant for his boy. ( _To say Killian had nightmares about his young son growing up to be the monster he used to be would be an understatement. He just hoped the bloodshed on his hands hadn’t transferred over to his son; the darkness that lingered inside of him, flickering in the back of his mind. No, Harrison would not be stained and broken like him...or even like Emma.)_

“You hungry, Harrison?” He asked the infant in a light voice that was dangerously close to cooing, banishing the morose thoughts from his brain. The boy was now old enough now to know his name and looked up from his toy with inquisitive eyes

“Bah,” Harrison replied, waving a fist in the air in response.  

Killian smiled down at the boy, because honestly he couldn’t help it. The child had wrecked havoc on all aspects of his life, but all he could feel was absolute love for Harrison, his son who had inherited nearly all his looks but has Emma’s smile. ( _Emma’s complaints about Harrison’s uncanny resemblance to Killian sometimes echoed in the back of his mind: “Seriously? If he hadn’t just come out of me, I would have thought you cloned yourself, Killian! There is none of me in there!” “He has your nose, Swan.” “Bullshit.”)_

“Look, Harrison! Apple sauce! Yum, yum. Right?” Killian exclaimed, smacking his lips in an exaggerated manner in hopes of enticing his son into eating. None of his theatrics seemed to have any effort however. When he brought the spoon to Harrison’s lips, the boy refused to budge; clamping down his jaw and shaking his head.

“You weren’t kidding about him being stubborn,” Henry commenting as he took another bite out of the folded-up pancake. “Is he normally this hard to feed?”

“Aye,” Killian replied absently as he attempted to bring the spoon to the child’s mouth again. Again, Harrison refused the spoon, giving his father an angry look and thumping his hands against the table as if in protest. “He’s been horrible with solid foods. He seems content to live strictly off breastmilk.”

“Gross.” 

Killian didn’t dignify his stepson’s response with a comment, focusing all of his (nonexistent) energy on his petulant son who was more interested in watching Henry eat than eating himself.

“Harrison, Harrison,” Killian called in coaxing tone. He really wished he had free fingers so he could snap for the infant’s attention. Though knowing his luck, Harrison would likely be startled by the sound and cry than anything else. “Look at me, lad! I got food! Yummy, yummy food.”

“Ever think the reason he doesn’t eat is because he doesn’t like apple sauce?” Henry asked, taking one of Killian’s many strips of bacon. 

“Perhaps,” Killian responded absently, not putting much thought behind the word.

Killian’s stomach made itself known as he watched Henry munched on his bacon. If there was anything Killian truly loved about the World Without Magic, ( _aside from indoor plumbing of course!)_ it was fresh extra crispy bacon. Bacon wasn’t necessarily a foreign concept to him, but it had been so rare to come across it freshly made and hot when sailing. Honestly, he just wanted Harrison to eat now so he could eat himself.

Not-Ruby returned to the table with both Henry’s hot chocolate and his order of waffles. Killian blinked in amazement. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. He let out a low whistle.

“Nice turnaround time, lass,” Killian complimented her with a broad grin that was more animated than he actually felt.

Not-Ruby flushed deep scarlet under the praise and hugged her food tray to her chest, a shy smile edging at the corners of her lips.

“Thank you, Captain. Do you need anything else?” She asked, stuttering slightly on the last few words.  

“Just the coffee,” Killian replied, gesturing to his mug.

Not-Ruby’s eyes went wide with realization that she had forgotten to bring him a refill and she made a quick and quiet apology before racing back to the kitchen. Killian found the entire exchange odd but was too tired and didn’t care enough to fully analyze it. However, he did give a pause when he heard Henry chuckling across from him.

“Something funny, lad?” He asked, already slightly dreading the answer that Henry was going to give.

Henry shook his head, still chuckling while he pushed Killian’s pancakes back towards him to claim the waffles for himself. Henry took a piece of bacon off his own plate and chewed on it a bit before answering. (Killian took this time to make a mental note of lecturing Henry’s eating habits in the future. It seemed the boy needed to be reintroduced to a fork.) 

“Nothing honestly, it’s just that Cosette has a massive crush on you,” Henry replied while popping the rest of the bacon strip in his mouth.

“Cosette? Who is Cosette?” Killian blinked. He honestly had no idea what Henry was talking about. Cosette? He privately searched his brain for a Cosette and came up with nothing, much wasn’t surprisingly to say the least since he was barely functioning as is.

 Henry made an amused noise in the back of his throat. 

“Cosette. You know, our waitress. Blonde. Sweet. Lives with her dad, you know the freakishly strong dude. Cosette. Who is running to get you coffee right now,” Henry explained with an exasperated roll of his eyes.

“Oh. So that’s her name.”

“Why? What did you think was her name was?” Henry asked, picking up another piece of bacon and smirking at Killian.

“…Not-Ruby?”

Henry’s chuckling evolved into full out peals of laughter, which didn’t even subside even when poor Cosette returned to the table to refill Killian’s glass. Henry, blessedly, didn’t say anything more during her brief visit, however she did leave without saying anything to either of them, sensing that she was disrupting some sort of moment between stepfather and stepson.

“Oh my god! Not-Ruby! I need to tell Mom about this,” Henry exclaimed, still coming down from his laughing fit. Killian honestly didn’t see what was so funny about it. 

“I fail to see why this is so funny to you. The poor lass must obviously realize she has no chance. I mean, I am very much happy with your mother.”

Henry rolled his eyes. Once again, Killian was stuck by how similar Henry and Emma were mannerisms-wise. (Though one could also argue that Regina had a hand in Henry’s constantly growing sass.)

“Trust me, I’m fully aware of how disgustingly in True Love, you and Mom are. I think you’re just a little too cranky this morning, Hook,” Henry scoffed as he took a sip from his hot chocolate. Killian then watched as a funny expression took hold on Henry’s face.

“What?” Killian asked, exhaustion creeping into his tone. He really needed to sleep.

 “Just curious, really. How old will Harrison should be when you move him to solid foods? Like actual solid food. Not the apple sauce or pureed stuff you and Mom claim is solid food,” Henry asked, still looking at him with an odd expression.

Killian frowned thoughtfully for a moment, searching his brain sluggishly for the information Henry was asking for. Normally, Killian would have been able to answer him right off the bat, but everything seemed to be escaping him at that moment.

“Ummm…if memory serves correctly, according to all the books I’ve read, roughly around six, seven or eight months. It depends on the child, really. Harrison is a little on the young side right now, but it wouldn’t be unheard of for him to starting to eat some now. All the books say when the child shows interest in “actual solid food” as you say,” Killian responded as casually as he could.

The corners of Henry’s lips curled upwards at his explanation. It took Killian a moment to realize it, but Henry was smirking at him and he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

“Well, I think it’s fair to say he’s interested,” he responded, gesturing to the baby in Killian’s lap with a tilt of his head. 

Killian immediately looked down and was greeted with the sight of his six-month old son holding all four pieces of Killian’s bacon to his mouth with both hands, trying his hardest to bite down on the crispy meat with his barely-there teeth. Killian’s jaw dropped at the sight and upon sensing that he had his father’s attention, Harrison merely giggled, a sound that was nearly muffed by the enormous amount of bacon in his mouth. Killian’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to think of something to say.

“You little pirate…” Killian remarked softly when he finally managed to speak. He made a move to take the bacon away from Harrison’s mouth but the boy made a noise in protest. 

“I’m so Snapchatting this,” Henry snickered as he pulled out his phone. “Mom is going to love this.”

“More like your mother is going to love killing me,” Killian mumbled under his breath as he tried to fight Harrison for the bacon. The boy, who had until recently tried his hardest to remain on a purely breastmilk diet, was putting up a hell of a fight over bacon.

“Well, at least you can say he’s definitely interested in solid foods now,” Henry replied with a laugh.  

Killian had to chuckle a bit even as he continued his attempts to pry the bacon away. Henry was right. At least Harrison was now interested in solid foods, and even if was salty, greasy bacon, it felt like some sort of victory.


End file.
